Given that the holidays are right around the corner, many of us will be trying to eat healthy outside of celebratory meals, and that includes turning to salad as a healthy meal option. Salads do provide fresh nutrients, but new research in Applied and Environmental Microbiology suggests pre-cut ...
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I like to encourage my students to explore the intersection between art and microbiology. Science + art = awesome! In any event, in this blog post, I describe two microbial art competitions in my microbiology course at the University of Puget Sound. I think my micronauts did some remarkable w...
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Mapping and identifying all the microbes across New York City is no small feat. Just ask Jane Carlton. About three years ago, Carlton, director of the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, and professor of biology, at New York University and colleagues won an NYU grand challenge grant for the...
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I enjoy having my microbiology students explore their creativity in interesting ways. One approach is to have my micronauts "paint" on Petri dishes using luminous bacteria. In the past, I have inviting people to "vote" on their favorites, and hand out microbiologically themed gifts. This has ...
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Jeremy, Aaron, and Ted join the TWiV team to discuss their work on identifying a single amino acid change in the Ebola virus glycoprotein from the West African outbreak that increases infectivity in human cells.

Eva Harris, PhD, University of California, Berkley, is interviewed by Vincent Racaniello, PhD, Columbia University, New York, about the status of Zika virus in Nicaragua. Harris has developed a multidisciplinary approach to study the molecular virology, pathogenesis, immunology, epidemiology, cl...
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While bacteria have been evolving for 3.5 billion years, mammals have evolved with bacteria for only 2.5 million years. Thus, it's not that surprising that humans appear to be losing the war on antibiotic resistance.
The issue of multidrug-resistance and the lack of antibiotics in the developme...
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Michael Diamond visits the TWiV studio to talk about chikungunya virus and his laboratory's work on a mouse model of Zika virus, including the recent finding of testicular damage caused by viral replication.

Raw milk collected from dairy farms has to travel to processing facilities before it is transformed into the delicious dairy products we consume. Because the milk from many dairy cows is collected together, any contamination issue from a single animal can lead to spoilage or contamination. How r...
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As a bacteriologist, when you are interested in the func­tion(s) of a particular protein you're hardly satisfied with biochemical analyses and studying expression patterns. What you'd really like to know is where your protein is localized, where it's actually active in living cells. None of the ...
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Infection control is a vital part of maintaining a safe healthcare facility, and the use of biocides and disinfectants to eliminate potential pathogens is an important part of infection control strategy. Pathogens can spread among patients via transfer to surfaces like doors, floors, and counter...
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As the durations of manned space missions increase, it is vitally important to understand the long-term consequences of microbial exposure on human health in closed human habitats. One mission of the Microbial Observatory Experiments on the International Space Station is to examine the traits an...
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Biofilms, surface-attached microbial communities encased in an extracellular matrix, are one of the most common macroscopic microbial structures we can see in nature. Biofilms like those seen in pond scum, in dental plaque, or in hot springs, are mixed communities with the members forming both a...
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